“Serenity, Part 2”

Firefly–Serenity Chinese Pinyinary
Chinese translations with standard Hanyu Pinyin romanization and Chinese characters for Firefly the TV series and Serenity the movie and comic books

Page Sections: Chinese Dialog | Cut Chinese Dialog | Visible Chinese | Search:

Chinese Dialog

[Image: logo]

Ni3men5 dou1 bi4zui3!

Simplified characters: 你们都闭嘴！ / Traditional characters: 你們都閉嘴！
Back-translation of Mandarin: All of you shut up!
Script Mandarin translation (Hanyu Pinyin romanization): Ta ma de! Nimen de bizui! [sic (see notes below); phonetic for English speakers: Nee-mun doh bee-tzway!]
Translated from script English: Everybody shut the hell up!
Context: “Serenity, Part 2,” Mal, as folks argue about killing

ni3men5 dou1

all of you

ni3men5: you (plural)
1. ni3: you (singular)
2. men5: [suffix for human plural words]
dou1: all

bi4zui3

[slang] Shut up!

bi4: to shut, to close
zui3: [colloquial] a mouth

Notes:

Pronunciation: Mal sounds like “Nee mun doh bih-zway!” instead of “Nee-mun doh bee-tzway!”
Script version: Ta ma de! [phonetic for English speakers: TAH-mah-duh!]: Ta1ma1 de5! 他妈的！ (traditional: 他媽的！): [offensive] Damn!, Damn it!, S***!, F***!; [literally: his mother’s]; ta1ma1: [literally: his mother] (ta1: he [understood: de5: [noun-modifier marker] [here: possessive (genitive), ’s, of]]; ma1: [colloquial] a mom, a mother); de5: [noun-modifier marker] [here: possessive (genitive), ’s, of]

Nimen de bizui! [phonetic for English speakers: Nee-mun duh bee-tzway!”]: Ni3men5 de5 bi4zui3! 你们的闭嘴！ (traditional: 你們的閉嘴！): you (plural) just shut up; ni3men5: you (plural) [see main entry above]; de5: [marker of a subject noun that is irrelevant to the situation at hand]; bi4zui3: [slang] Shut up! [see main entry above]

See also:

Bi4zui3. (“Serenity, Part 1,” Serenity: Better Days #1 & #2)
Bi4zui3 nin2 hen3 bu4ti3tie1 de5 nan2sheng1! (“Objects in Space”)
Bi4zui3. Rong2 wo3men5 fa1cai2. (Serenity [movie])

kuang2zhe3 de5

Simplified/Traditional characters: 狂者的
Back-translation of Mandarin: like crazy people
Script Mandarin translation (phonetic for English speakers): kwong-juh duh
Translated from script English: nuts
Context: “Serenity, Part 2,” Wash, about flying without core containment

kuang2zhe3 de5

like crazy people

kuang2zhe3: a crazy person, the insane
1. kuang2: to be crazy, to be insane
2. zhe3: [suffix to make doer nouns from verbs/adjectives], -er/-or
de5: [noun-modifier marker] [here: possessive (genitive), ’s, of (modified noun is understood or generic)]

Note:

Wash sounds like “kwing chuh duh” instead of the kwong-juh duh of the script.

See also:

fang4zong4 feng1kuang2 de5 jie2 (“War Stories”)
Wo3 de5 ma1 he2 ta1 de5 feng1kuang2 de5 wai4sheng5 dou1 (“Our Mrs. Reynolds”)
xiong1meng3 de5 kuang2ren2 (“Objects in Space”)

xiao3mei4mei4

Simplified/Traditional characters: 小妹妹
Back-translation of Mandarin: little sister
Script Mandarin translation (Hanyu Pinyin romanization): xiao meimei [phonetic for English speakers: shao may-may]
Translated from script English: little sister
Context: “Serenity, Part 2,” Mal, addressing Kaylee

xiao3mei4mei4

younger sister, young girl

xiao3: to be junior
mei4 [used only in compound words]: [repeated] little sister, younger sister

Notes:

Mal sounds like “zao mei-mei” (“zao may-may”) instead of “shao may-may.” The captions incorrectly have only mei-mei on the region 1 DVD.
Unlike in mei4mei5, the repeated mei in xiao3mei4mei4 retains 4th tone instead of changing to neutral 5th tone.

Also:

Mandarin Words for Siblings
Relation / Gender	Female	Male
Older Sibling	jie3jie5 姐姐 older sister	ge1ge5 哥哥 older brother
Younger Sibling	mei4mei5 妹妹 younger sister	di4di5 弟弟 younger brother

See also:

mei4mei5 (“Serenity, Part 1,” “Safe,” “Our Mrs. Reynolds” [Cut], “Ariel,” “War Stories,” “Heart of Gold”)
xiao3mei4mei4 (Serenity: Better Days #1 & #2)
Zhu4fu2 ni3, mei4mei5. (“Heart of Gold”)

Hun2dan4!

Simplified characters: 浑蛋！ / Traditional characters: 渾蛋！
Back-translation of Mandarin: Bastard!
Script Mandarin translation (Hanyu Pinyin romanization): Hun dan! [phonetic for English speakers: Hwun-dan!]
Translated from script English: Damn!
Context: “Serenity, Part 2,” Jayne, when he misses a shot

hun2dan4

[insult] [offensive] a scoundrel, a bastard (nonliteral)

hun2: to be stupid, to be foolish
dan4: [word used in insults of people]; [literally: an egg]

See also:

ge5 zhen1 de5 hun2dan4! (“Jaynestown”)
hun2dan4 (“Bushwhacked,” “Our Mrs. Reynolds,” Serenity: Those Left Behind #1)
Ta1ma1 de5 hun2dan4. (“War Stories”)

Ai1ya1. Wo3men5 wan2le5.

Simplified characters: 哎呀。我们完了。 / Traditional characters: 哎呀。我們完了。
Back-translation of Mandarin: Ah. We’re doomed.
Script Mandarin translation (Hanyu Pinyin romanization): Ai ya. Women wanle. [phonetic for English speakers: Ai-yah. Wuh-mun wan-luh.]
Translated from script English: We're in big trouble.
Context: “Serenity, Part 2,” Zoe, as Reaver ship approaches

ai1ya

[interjection for shock, regret, or distress], Oh!, Oh my!, Ah!, Damn!

ai1: [interjection for surprise, regret, or distress], Oh!, Ah!
ya1: [interjection for surprise], Oh!, Ah!

wo3men5

wo3: I
men5: [suffix for human plural words]

wan2le5

to be hopeless, doomed

wan2: to finish, to be over
le5: [completion marker]

See also:

Ai1ya1! (“Our Mrs. Reynolds”)
Ai1ya1! Huai4le5. (“Serenity, Part 1”)
Ai1ya1. Tian1 a5. (Serenity [movie])

Cut Chinese Dialog

Shen2me5?

Simplified characters: 什么？ / Traditional characters: 什麼？
Back-translation of Mandarin: What?
Script Mandarin translation (Hanyu Pinyin romanization): Duibuqi? [sic (see note below); phonetic for English speakers: Shuh muh?]
Translated from script English: I'm sorry?
Context: “Serenity, Part 2” [Deleted scene on DVD], Simon, response to Book’s comment about Serenity’s name not being a joke

shen2me5

[usually pronounced “she2me5”]: what?

shen2 [used only in the compound word shen2me5]
me5: [suffix for question words]

Note:

Pronunciation: Simon correctly sounds like “Shun muh?” for shen2me5? ‘I’m sorry?’ / ‘What?’ not “Dway-boo-chee?” for the script’s incorrect Duibuqi? ‘I’m sorry [for what I did]’: dui4bu5qi3 对不起 (traditional: 對不起 ): I’m sorry, Excuse me (as apology); dui4: to treat, to deal with; bu4: not; qi3: to rise, to start.

See also:

Shen2me5? (“Shindig,” Serenity [movie] [Cut])
Zhe4 shi4 shen2me5 lan4dong1xi5!? (“Jaynestown”)

Visible Chinese

Lian2jie2 Bu4tong1

Simplified characters: 连结不通 / Traditional characters: 連結不通
Back-translation of Mandarin: Unable To Connect
Translated from the English: Unable To Connect
Context: “Serenity, Part 2,” Visible Chinese, somewhat visible on Dobson’s hand-held computer screen

lian2jie2

to link, to bind

lian2: to link, to connect
jie2: to tie, to join together

bu4tong1

cannot get through [state resulting from preceding verb]

bu4: not
tong1: to connect with

Shui3

Simplified/Traditional characters: 水
Back-translation of Mandarin: Water
Context: “Serenity, Part 2,” Visible Chinese, oddly written sideways (list of written-Chinese errors) on left sleeve of Jayne’s T-shirt (Jayne T-shirt list) above the word enjoy (non-sideways), somewhat visible as he warns Mal on bridge about River

shui3

water [noun]

Lang2

Simplified/Traditional characters: 廊
Back-translation of Mandarin: Corridor
Context: “Serenity, Part 2,” Visible Chinese, on inside of Serenity’s bridge door, visible next to Jayne during his denial of helping Dobson

lang2

[Chinese character doesn’t represent an independent word in Modern Standard Mandarin (Putonghua)] →
zou3lang2 走廊 : a corridor, a passageway

zou3: to go, to walk
lang2 [used only in compound words]: a corridor

See also:

Lang2 (“The Message”)

Qian1

Simplified/Traditional characters: 蚈 [obscure character]
Back-translation of Mandarin: Firefly [old version (see note below)]
Context: “Serenity, Part 2,” Visible Chinese, on inside of Serenity’s bridge, visible behind Mal after Jayne’s interesting day comment

qian1

[archaic] a firefly [see note below]

Note:

Modern term: ying2huo3chong2 萤火虫 (traditional: 螢火蟲 ): a firefly, a glowworm; ying2 [used only in compound words]: a firefly, a glowworm; huo3: fire [noun]; chong2: an insect, a worm [used on cast-and-crew T-shirt; see: Firefly Cast-and-Crew Stuff]

See also:

Qian1 (“Safe,” “Our Mrs. Reynolds,” “Objects in Space,” Firefly Press Kit)